Improvement in railroad tickets



T, A. JEBB. Railrad-Tckets.

` Patented Sep. 17, 1872..

UNITED STATES THOMAS A. JEBB, OE BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

TENT o EroE.,

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD TICKETS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 131,448, dated September 17,1872.

To all whom tmay concern: I

Be it known that I, THOMAS A. JEBB, of

Y the city of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented an Improved Duplicate Coupon Fare-Ticket for Ticket-Agents, of which the following is a ive roads, and charged by each of said roads or companies against the company issuing the same.

"One of the objects of my invention is to provide ready means in the shape of a duplicate strip with each coupon ticket, which strip is separated by the agent from the passenger portion when the ticket is sold, and returned (preferably daily) by him to-the company issuing the ticket, whereby the said company is promptly furnished in a most convenient and reliable form with accurate returns of the tickets sold, the kind and the amounts outstanding to be credited to the different companies over which the different coupons of the tickets `sold extend. Another object of the invention is to prevent the fraudulent resale of tickets, by the conductor lifting the ticket at the commencement of his route and returning it without perforating to the agent with whom he colludes, who sells it a second time, while he accounts to the company only once for the ticket, which may thus be resold several times before it is perforated and returned by the conductor to the company.

The invention consists of a coupon railroad ticket provided with a strip, consisting of coupons, the duplicate of those sold, as to number, date, road, &c., all as hereinafter more fully set forth. 4

The accompanying drawing shows a face view of a coupon ticket, represented as eX- tending from New York city to Omaha, over the .New York Central and Hudson River Railroads to Suspension Bridge, which forms the first part of the ticket; thence over the Great Western Railway to Detroit, forming the second part; thence over the Michigan Central Railroad to Chicago, forming the third part; and from Chicago Vto Omaha over the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, which forms the fourth and last part.

A B C D represent, respectively, the 1st,

2d,'3d, and 4th parts of the ticket, and A', B', C', and D' the corresponding or vduplicate parts thereof, forming the duplicate strip hereinbefore referred to. e e represent the perforated division-line between the parts A. B C D, and f the perforated line which separates the duplicate strip from the main ticket and marks the line where the ticket is folded lengthwise. The outer edge of each part A B C D and A' B' C' D' is printed with the names of the months and numerals representing the diiferent days in a corresponding manner, so that when the ticket is folded along the line f the same months and days will come directly opposite each other in the duplicate parts of the ticket, and so that the same date can be punched from both parts at the same operation. The different parts of the ticket are numbered in order by the figures l 2 3 4 at the end thereof, the first duplicate parts A and A' being numbered one; B and B', two, and so on. The figure ve in the corner of each of the eight parts designates the general number of the ticket. The passenger portions A B C D have also printed thereon the names of the principal stations, the stations comprising the route of each conductor being grouped together in sections and plainly numbered, as

clearly shown in the drawing, in which the distance from New York to Albany form seetion 1 of part A from Albany to Rochester, section 2, and so on with each part of the ticket. The central space of each part of the passenger portion and agents strip is printed with the name of the roadaud terminal stations. The parts A B C D have a-lso the additional statements of Good between dates punched 5"* Each conductor will cancel the ticket used on his section. Each division of the agents strip has also printed thereon the statement, This ticket is of no value except to the agent who sells it, and he will return it to the office of the company with his daily receipts. These directions and statements can, of course, be varied as may be desired.

My ticket is designed to be issued and used in the following manner: The agent receives from the company a certain number of tickets and is charged with the same. When he sells a ticket he is required to punch the date, by punching the month and day of the month from each division of the ticket before unfolding the strip. In the drawing the ticket is punched as sold March 2d. In addition to this he is required to punch from each part the day on which the train is supposed to reach the terminus or last station of each road, allowinga day or so for stopping over and other delays. For instance, from a ticket sold at New York, March 2d, he punches from the part A the second and fourth; from the coupon B, the second and sixth; from couponG, the second and eighth; and from coupon D,

the second and tenth, as indicated in the drawing. The second date, as the fourth, sixth, eighth, andV tenth, indicates the time and order in which the tickets should loe handed in to the respective companies to which they belong; and the return of a latter coupon, as l before 13, would call the attention of the company issuing the ticket to the fact, and the conductor on the route designated by the coupon B would be required to account for the missing or delayed coupon, the agents strip A B C D giving the company the necessary information for determining this delinquency. The conductor at the commencement of the route when he first receives the ticket from the passenger is required to punch out all of the stations on his section, `which cancels the ticket as far as his section extends, and effectually prevents the resale of the same. The next conductor is required to do the same, and so on to the end of the route.

The advantages of my improved ticket as to convenience in making prompt and accurate returns by agents, in supplying the company issuing the same with reliable data for anticipating the state of its liability to other companies, and for keeping its accounts therewith, and in preventing the fraudulent resale of tickets, are sufficiently obvious from the foregoing description. t

What I claim as my invention is- A coupon railroad ticket consisting of a passenger portion and a duplicate strip for the ticket-agent, the whole constructed, arranged, and adapted for use substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

T. A. J EBB.

Witnesses:

JOHN J. BONNER,

GEORGE J. METZGER. 

